The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Seventeen-year-old Jenna Fox has just woken up after being in a coma for a year. Disoriented and confused, she remembers nothing of the horrible car accident that caused her imposed sleep. Her parents are strangers, her memories full of holes. Gradually, she gets to know the Jenna of the past through the hundreds of hours of film her parents shot of their beloved only daughter. Who is that perfect smiling creature? Jenna can’t even begin to imagine knowing her, let alone being her. Slowly, she begins to reclaim her life by starting school again, making new friends, and sparking a romance with shy boy Ethan. But even as she plunges into her new life, she is plagued by questions about her old one. She used to be a ballerina. So why, after weeks of being out of bed, is her walk still so ungraceful? How is it that she is regaining memories she never even had her first time around—like her infant baptism? When Jenna gets a bad cut, she suddenly understands with hideous, perfect clarity exactly how far she has come from the girl she used to be to the person she is now. Pearson’s gradual revealing of Jenna’s true identity is masterful, as she teases readers with a shocking revelation that is just out of reach. Reminiscent of Eva by Peter Dickinson and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, this bewitching, mysterious novel is a gripping examination of what it means to be human.

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7 Responses to “The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson”

This sounds a lot like “Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac” by Zevin, with some slight plot variations. Though I am intrigued both because I loved MOATA and with the shocking revelation you referenced. I will of course be checking this out – how could I resist?

I read this book not too long ago. It by no means was my favorite, but I still think it is a pretty good book. The way Pearson hides Jenna’s idenity, only revealing the smallest bits possible while still keeping you interested is ingenious. A very good book, a bit too sciency for my liking, but still very good none the less.